Chains of Fate
by Keiretsu
Summary: Don't close your eyes. Don't even blink. You'll miss it if you do, and catch only a small glimpse of it if you don't. Your fate always repeats and she can't handle the pain anymore. Multi-chapter fic.
1. Chapter 1

**Chains of Fate**

* * *

**Prologue**

It happened a long time ago—too long for him to remember, but not long enough for it to dissolve from his subconscience. Memories bled through into his dreams every now and then, but he could never interpret them into their truthful meaning. At times he thought himself mad—delusional with war-induced hysteria. It was understandable to experience some symptoms of mania after battling nonstop for such a prolonged period of time.

How long had he been fighting, anyway? He could never keep track. Days? Months? Years? It seemed like an eternity to him, and maybe it was; he had no way to judge.

But regardless of how long his struggles persevered, in his heart the fragments of that time long ago remained imbedded in a place that ached every time he laid eyes on her. In her he saw a pain and sadness like no other. So much sorrow flowed within a woman as beautiful as her—a woman who by every right should have radiated with the purest tranquility and serenity. He deemed it the most barbaric injustice in existence.

It was the sorrow he wanted to remedy. He fought at first because of a duty-bound code of honor and responsibility, but the more foes he slew, the more she appeared before him bearing those eyes weighed by the world's pain. All the chaos, all the atrocity, all the madness—nothing drove him to fight like the determination fueling his desire to see her smile.

He didn't understand why. It happened too long ago for him to really understand. But he would fight for her regardless, because the fragments in his heart commanded him to act. She was shackled by pain, and he would do everything to release her from sorrow's bondage.

* * *

**Ch. 1**

"I've always wondered… Do you think it's possible to dream in this place?" Tidus asked as he lay sprawled atop a grassy knoll. A cool breeze blew in from the east, ruffling through his hair and clothes. A large tree provided shade from the bright, clear sun high above in the light blue sky.

"This is a dream," replied the Warrior, who stood looking out towards the horizon.

"You serious?"

"Yes. You are in my dream."

Tidus hoisted himself up to look the Warrior in the eyes. "Are you playing games with me or what? How can I be in your dream?"

"Because that is your skill," the Warrior stated.

"My 'skill'? What the heck's that mean? You say it like you know it for a fact!"

"It is a fact." The Warrior started walking away towards the valley. "And it's my duty to know the abilities and strengths of the soldiers under my charge." He continued walking, his armor clanging with each step, until he disappeared from Tidus' view.

"Soldiers under his charge…?" Tidus echoed as he bounced to his feet. "Just who does that guy think he—whoa!" In a blink of an eye, the clear sky swirled into a blinding white light he thought impossible to ever experience. Shielding his eyes while the color flashed away from the scenic view, Tidus stood fast as the once gentle breeze turned violent and a powerful gust with the force of a mighty tornado pushed against him. His sneakers streaked against the nonexistent ground, but his mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of survival to notice the lack of any true surface below his feet. When the pressure became to extreme, it swept Tidus away where the light engulfed him into its infinity.

Tumbling through the vortex of light, Tidus did little more than scream as he struggled to shield himself from injury. Unable to open his eyes, his body reacted on instinct not knowing whether or not harmful objects lined the area in which he was speeding through. What unnerved him as he traveled through the field of light was not the unknown of his location or destination, but the voice. The voices terrified him. He heard them as he continued to plummet through the white—he heard their screams, their wails, and their moans. It terrified him thinking about the horrors that befell the owners of each voice. But what sent a mortified shiver throughout his body was that he recognized the tone of each voice. They were familiar, as if he knew them from a fleeting memory too slippery to grasp.

He was going to be sick. But then, as if someone had exhaled a gasp of air, Tidus opened his eyes and sprang up to see a solid surrounding no longer bathed in light. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead and it took all his willpower to compose himself. As he moved to stand on the cobbled ground of the open, castle-like area he cringed with the crippling knowledge that the Warrior of Light dreamed of those pain-filled voices. He dreamed of them every night…yet he could still keep pressing forward.

* * *

The Warrior of Light awoke from his hiding place deep within a crystal crevice. It was hardly the ideal spot to rest for the night, but it provided excellent camouflage from the enemy and lowered the probability of a sneak attack. He squeezed out of the bright orange crystal and stepped out into the open where he stretched his muscles.

A new day was upon him—or was it night? He could never tell in that terrible place. Journeying through a battleground composed of the fragments of many worlds disoriented him at times, but mostly made him long for the home he grew to forget as the war waged on. Nothing save for small bits of memories remained of his homeland, and it would have troubled him had the war not consumed so much of his mind. Regardless, he pressed on, swearing an oath to see the light returned to glory and order restored to the chaotic worlds among the stars.

With his energy replenished and the night's dreams forgotten, he readied himself to fight anew. Sword and shield in hand, he jumped atop the nearest crystal platform and headed towards his next destination—the clock tower. But not more than five steps into his trek, a flash of light shined before the Warrior.

"What is this…? Cosmos?"

The goddess appeared, projecting her image through an aura of golden light. "Why do you continue fighting?" she asked of her warrior. Like all words spoken from her lips, the question was presented with little emotion. The common misconception among lore and fairytales often describes a goddess such as she—one with mastery over light and goodness—as someone with a persisting, confident smile and an unparalleled optimism. But the true goddess who maintained order in the world and strived for good to triumph over evil seldom altered her expression of melancholy. Anyone seeking an audience with the legend would find their expectations unmet and their hopes shattered beyond repair. How could a goddess so full of sadness represent the realm of light?

"I do not understand the question," the Warrior answered in truth.

"It is a simple question. What motivates your struggle?"

The Warrior raised his sword to point towards the heavens, the light reflecting against it giving it an ethereal glow. "If that is what you ask of me, then this is my answer: it is my sworn duty to protect the light and restore order where discord has terrorized the lands. By your bidding, Cosmos, I shall fight for your everlasting rule over all realms."

"Then you do this for me?"

"I fight for everyone who lives in fear of Chaos' reign. Only darkness and despair await a world without your guiding light."

"And that is enough to drive you towards your goal?"

"What are you insinuating?"

"It is merely a question, not an insinuation," the goddess answered with a shake of her head.

"Forgive me, but may I in turn pose you a question?" he asked, sheathing his sword.

"You may."

"I do not understand your intention, goddess. Have you become uncertain of my ability to lead your warriors to victory?"

Cosmos did not give an immediate answer. She turned from the Warrior, walking several steps away with her back to him, leaving a trail of brilliant sparkles of light in her wake. Looking out over the crystal field, she saw no signs of other life. The other warriors continued their battles elsewhere, leaving the multiple crystal platforms an uneasy silence for the moment.

"It is not your prowess in battle I have come to question," she said after several minutes of careful contemplation.

"Then my commitment to your victory?"

"No."

The Warrior furrowed his brows in contemplation. "I must confess that your worries elude me. Have I done something to merit your dissatisfaction?"

Again Cosmos withheld her answer for a time. She closed her eyes as if to allow herself a period of rest from her responsibilities. "What is your name, Warrior?"

The question caught the Warrior of Light off guard, leaving him speechless. He contorted his face with an expression of surprise and uncertainty. "I am but your humble servant," he replied after getting over the initial shock and restoring his stoic demeanor. "As such, my name is irrelevant."

"I see."

The goddess's answer remained consistent with her usual tone. But something about her reply made the Warrior uneasy. A peculiar emotion washed over him, originating from the depths of his stomach where it slowly rose to engulf him whole. For an instant, he could feel her sadness—or so he thought. Perhaps what he really felt was a sadness of his own.

"That is all, then. You may carry on."

"Cosmos, wait—" The Warrior took a step forward, reaching out his free hand, but he did so in vain for the goddess had already vanished. He stood there for a while, staring at the empty space in which once held the goddess's image. But as he continued gazing into thin air, the faint call of voices echoed in his ears. They grew louder and louder until they were screaming in full volume forcing the Warrior to his knees. He grasped at his ears, channeling all his willpower into repelling the howling pleas of agony. The screams were no longer restricted to his dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2**

Chilling screams of agony and unspeakable horrors threatened to break the Warrior of Light's mind and crush his sanity like a ten-ton anvil falling onto a single grape. The pain in his ears combined with that of the goddess tore into his abdomen, slashing away within him. A great dizziness befell the Warrior, who clenched his gauntlet-bound hands into tight fists and pounded them into the ground in an episodic fit of overpowering mania.

A tear slipped past one of his wide, dilated eyes as the Warrior fought a losing battle against the massive surge of strenuous emotions raging within him. But when he reached his limit and it seemed he could no longer continue the struggle to remain conscious, the noise ceased. Silence filled the hollows of his ears and his body restored itself to equilibrium.

The Warrior rose to his feet, and without pause, continued on his journey as if nothing had happened. Indeed, as far as he was aware, nothing did happen.

* * *

Cloud sat with his legs hanging loose over a floating bit of Gaia overlooking the Lifestream. "Where's your posse?"

"They're not my posse," Squall growled irritably. Although in truth, his annoyance lay with the Warrior, and not with Bartz and Zidane. Standing on the opposite end of Cloud, he waited at attention for the arrival of the Warrior as per his grudging promise to the man. All the while he wished he could ditch his post in favor of tracking down the two good friends he remained reluctant to call his "posse".

"If you say so." Scooting further back towards the center of the floating rock, Cloud leaned back to lay his back flat on the ground with his hands cushioning his head. As he gazed up into the endless spiral of green that flowed in all directions, a thought occurred to him. "How long have you been here?"

"You know that 'posse'?"

"Yeah?"

"I left them because they talked too much."

"You've been here ever since?"

"Can't you take a hint?"

"Humor me. Need something to keep me awake while we guard this post."

"Whatever." Squall shook his head and sighed. "Made a round trip. Cosmos told me to tough it alone from right over there." He nodded with his head to the centermost platform of floating rock—the largest and most circular of them all from which all other masses seemed to spiral out of.

"She said something like that? Doesn't sound like the goddess I know."

"That's because it wasn't. Ultimecia made her eyes three shades of blue too dark."

Cloud chuckled.

"You think it's funny?"

"How'd a guy who can't stand socializing with a couple of enthused adventurers—who makes as little effort as possible to know the people around him—notice that the phony goddess had eyes not one, not two, but _three_ shades of blue too dark to be the real deal?"

At first, Squall wanted to ignore the remark, taking it as a damaging insult to his pride. But he couldn't stop his mind from trying to answer the question. It was then, as his urge to defend himself worked itself into overdrive that he realized the startling truth.

"It was…instinct."

"What?"

"It's like…I've seen her so many times that I just knew."

"Who, the fake?"

"No… Both of them."

"So she's been playing you this whole time and Cosmos never said anything?"

"You don't understand. It's…it's almost like a dream—as though I've seen it happen in a dream before Ultimecia ever approached me."

"Like Déjà vu?"

"Maybe…"

Cloud pushed himself to his feet and dusted himself clean. "Let me get this straight," he said, now looking Squall in the eyes. "You've met Ultimecia disguised as Cosmos over there on that _same _platform more than once."

"What's it matter?" Squall closed his eyes and adverted his head to the side. He didn't want to think about it anymore.

"I need to know."

"Why?"

"To know if we're the same."

Squall opened his eyes. "What?"

"This…" Cloud reached into his pocket and pulled out a glowing, red rose. "I've always been angry," he said, holding up the rose for Squall to see, "but this time, it was different. It wasn't just personal anymore. When Sephiroth first came at me, I knew he had Firion's rose—even before he showed it to me."

Squall narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean 'this time'?"

"Like you said: it's like I saw it in a dream before it happened. Every emotion, every feeling, every thought—all the knowledge involved, experienced in a dream before the actual events."

Squall folded his arms and tossed his head back. "What does this mean?"

"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Cloud hummed as he tucked the rose back into a safe place.

"Ho, there! Comrades!" the Warrior of Light called as he jumped down several platforms. "What news have you? What is your status?"

"I've got my crystal," Cloud announced, producing the pale green orb for the Warrior to see.

"Excellent work, Cloud. And I see the Manikin forces have been purged from the field."

"For now."

"Yes, they will likely replenish within the hour," the Warrior noted while taking careful observation of the area. "And what of you, Squall?"

"I waited here like you ordered me to do."

"Your crystal?"

Squall pulled the silver crystal from his pocket.

"Very good. You may accompany me to the Rift where the enemy has fortified their forces to impede our progression towards the Shrine."

"Whatever." Tucking away the crystal, Squall shouldered his Gunblade and marched his way towards the center platform.

"As for you, Cloud, set course for the Tower where our forces are spread far too thin."

Cloud started for his given path, but stalled in his movement to look back towards the Warrior. "Do you ever dream at night?"

"We've no time for petty chat, soldier. There is a war to fight."

"It's not so petty when your dreams show you the future."

"The future, you say?" the Warrior asked, his interest in the topic not at all what Cloud had anticipated. The tone he conveyed hinted at an underlying automatic dismissal of the subject as if it were too ridiculous to even entertain for a second.

"Everything I'm going through—it's like I've done it before multiple times. The same actions with the same people yielding he same results—I know things that I shouldn't know. You ever experience something like that?"

"That is a symptom of battle fatigue. You must take care to rest more in the future or else the enemy will have no trouble in destroying you." Without looking at Cloud, the Warrior walked passed him and jumped to the center platform. He marched on, his armor clanking with every step, until everything that remained of his presence drifted far out of the Lifestream's boundaries.

Meanwhile, Cloud held the rose once again in his hand and stared at its brilliant red pedals in wonder. "Battle fatigue, huh?"

* * *

"It didn't used to be this way," Tidus muttered as he trudged on alongside his companions. They wandered along a cold, stony corridor with lighting so poor they resulted to conjuring a quick fire spell to guide their passage.

"What are you talking about?" Firion queried, swerving the flaming torch in his hand to get a better look at Tidus.

Tidus wrinkled his forehead in thought, slowing his pace to better arrange the words buzzing madly within his head. "It's been eating at me this whole time, but now I'm sure of it. This _isn't_ how it used to be—none of this is how I remember it." A star athlete from his world, his credits lay more with his agility and hand-eye-coordination on the field than with thoughtful introspection. Every action and reaction was carried out as reflex, never taking much time to process any detailed and complex thought. In essence, thinking was seldom his strong point, thus it came as surprise to the others, as well as himself, that he would even take into serious account a string of words whispered to him only in a fleeting dream.

"You're worried about what the Warrior said, aren't you?" Cecil noted.

"He said I was in his dream! That doesn't exactly happen everyday. I'd remember if it did."

"It's nothing to get worked up over," Firion assured, placing a hand on Tidus' shoulder to help ease his racing thoughts. "We all dream about our comrades from time-to-time. It's perfectly natural considering the circumstances."

Tidus shook his head and groaned. "No, that's not it! It was real—I'm sure of it! That wasn't just an ordinary dream."

"The what would you have us do?" Cecil stopped and leaned forward to look Tidus in the eyes through the dim flicker of light. "Our mission is to secure the crystals and defeat the forces of Chaos. Even if we were to believe the Warrior, we don't have the luxury of time to sit around pondering over his meaning. He's the only one who can explain himself to you, and right now, he's nowhere near this area."

"Don't you think I know that?" Tidus snapped, now getting riled and agitated.

"Hey, now. There's no need to get snippy," Firion said. "Getting upset at your friends doesn't help any."

Tidus let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Yeah, you're right. No point in worrying about it 'til I see the guy, right?"

Firion opened his mouth to answer, but the words were stolen from him by a Manikin crafted in his image. It broke through the wall and slammed into Cecil, clearing the way for a small battalion to flood the corridor. The battle was on, and the three warriors of Cosmos rose to meet the challenge.

Light exploded into the small area as Cecil shed his dark armor. He propelled himself into a group of Manikins and swept them away into the adjacent hall. Tidus and Firion split the remaining foes, one of which was a speedy, little Onion Knight that pick-pocketed Firon's axe and sword before the warrior could react. Chasing after the little scamp, Firion led a Manikin Golbez and Emperor away with him, leaving Tidus with the last person he wanted to see.

"Figures I'd get stuck with you," he grumbled, twirling a blitzball on his finger. "I'll show _you_ who's the best!" In one fell swoop, Tidus spun around and kicked the ball straight at the Jecht Manikin, who let out a boisterous laugh as the ball bounced off his abs.

"You can't do it, kid," the Manikin mocked in its muffled, crystal tone as it swung its humongous sword like a baseball bat and struck Tidus straight into the next field.

Landing in a crater on the Lunar Subterrane, Tidus quickly bounced back to his feet and spiraled out of the way of the Manikin's follow-up attack. Keeping in rhythm, he dodged another string of blows before strategically positioning himself with his back to a large cliff. When the Jecht Manikin swung his sword in full force, it got stuck in the solid rock long enough for Tidus to slide behind it and unleash his Overdrive on the Manikin's exposed back. "You picked the wrong day to mess with me!" he hollered as he slashed into the crystal copy of his father without mercy.

The Manikin shattered and Tidus landed back on his feet panting for air.

"Why is this the wrong day?"

"Huh?" Not even given a moment's rest, another presence appeared behind the Warrior. Tidus swerved around on his heel, sword at the ready to cut down whoever dared sneak up on him. But the second he saw who the person was, he felt embarrassed for reacting so rashly. "Oh, it's you!" he exclaimed with a sheepish hand rub to the back of his neck. "Hiya, Cosmos. What's up?"

"I could not help but notice your anxiety," the golden-glowing goddess noted. "Speak your mind."

"Oh, well…" Tidus trailed off, not sure if he wanted to waste the goddess's valuable time with tales of his peculiar dream. Maybe Firion and Cecil were right in saying that the whole ordeal was a waste of time and nothing to worry about. But if he didn't tell Cosmos now, he would miss a prime opportunity to seek advice from an omniscient deity. He decided to tell her. "Cosmos, I had a really weird dream last night…"

The goddess listened to her warrior detail everything that transpired during his dream. Her facial expression, like always, remained unchanged. When Tidus finished explaining his plight, Cosmos took a moment to consider his words before replying.

"The voices—what were they saying?" she asked, to which Tidus wrinkled his forehead with reluctance to answer. "Forgive me, I realize it must be difficult for you to relive."

"Yeah, it is, but…" He closed his eyes and shook his head to free it of the dreary aura amassing around it. "I can't tell you exactly what they said since I couldn't make out any words. All I can say for sure is…that I recognized some of the voices."

"I see."

"And…"

"Yes?"

Tidus paused for a long while, daring to replay the orchestra of chaos in his mind. He allowed the voices free passage back into his ears and relived the last few screams just to make sure of what he had heard. "One of the voices…" he said softly, "was yours."


	3. Chapter 3

**Ch. 3**

"You've doomed us all, Cid!" shouted the grief-stricken man high into the heavens. "You cowardly cur! Show yourself dammit! Show yourself!" Thunder rumbled like a war drum and lightning flashed to light the dark, morbid sky. But nothing could deter the man who lost so much in so little time. Even when the rain shot down like bullets and flooded at his feet, the man refused to budge without seeing face-to-face the monster that ruined his life.

Another clap of thunder rumbled, and when it came and left, the angry shouts persisted all throughout the cycle. His face went red and his throat ached, but he continued to yell with increasing ferocity despite the pain. "Damn you Cid of the Lufaine! Damn you to Hell and beyond!"

"My, my. Such hatred."

Lightning struck the ground, knocking the man off his feet into a puddle of muddied water. "You devil…!"

"What have I done to merit such ill will from you—I, who have lost more than a pawn could ever hope to know, yet alone cherish."

"You've robbed me of everything!" cried the man, who stumbled to his feet. Mud dripped from his body and caked his face enough to hide the stream of angry tears. "You've destroyed my home—my sanctuary! You've imprisoned my family, of whom you've turned into puppets to enact your abominable fantasies! You've enslaved us all, damning us to a fate with no future and an ever-waning past! "

"And you with your swords and your arrows and your cannons and your warships—what homes and sanctuaries have _you_ destroyed?" disembodied Cid thundered from his throne amongst the heavens. "What are families to barbarians bred for nothing but war? What past or future do warmongers need know other than war itself?"

"You speak as if my life were so simplistic as to be recited from a child's painting on a wall!" The man spat a wad mud to the ground, cleaning his mouth of the dirt once lodged between his teeth. "I fight only to protect—never to kill for want of blood. Your story is a sad one, but why must you repeat it for another innocent family? By committing this atrocity, you've become like the barbarians you so despise!"

The wind howled, and with it, Cid's fury. "You have no right to come here and plead innocence, seed of chaos! You are a soldier—a murderer! Any pain of yours isn't worth an ounce of sympathy!" Multiple bolts of lightning shot through the sky and surged towards the ground, all aimed at the muddied, sorrowful man. Most missed him, striking the flooded earth instead. But one managed to find its target, jolting him through the chest. He collapsed flat on his back into the electrified water where his body received further shock.

"Heed my…words…Cid," the man heaved with his dying breath, "you… you have…made a… pow…erful e-enemy…"

"Pawns have no power." With his final words said, the watchful eye of Cid turned its gaze away from the lifeless body to focus on more pressing matters. The heavy rain tapered off to a light drizzle until it halted altogether, and the pitch-black clouds above softened in color to a dismal grey.

All remained still, even the flow and ebb of the flooded water. Cid's storm of destruction sucked the life out of the valley until a new arrival walked across the land. The brush of her white dress whisked away the overabundant water, returning the mud to soil. Each footprint she impressed upon the earth sprouted new lush, green vegetation. First came the grass, then the flowers, the shrubbery, and finally the trees. Order returned to the chaotic valley, and life was once again allowed to flourish.

When she reached the cold and still body of the fallen man, she kneeled beside him in the now solid earth. With mournful eyes, she looked upon his charcoaled and dirtied face, and brushed a gentle hand along his disfigured cheek. She held him close to her, hugging his head to her chest. A single tear streaked down her cheek as she leaned forward and touched her lips to his where they lingered until the man's body twitched back to life.

* * *

"Cosmos…?"

"Yes?"

"Did you hear what I said?"

"I did."

Tidus folded his arms. "Well…what do you think?" he asked, but he received no answer. The goddess merely closed her eyes and turned her back to him. The action worried him. "Cosmos? Are you okay?"

"This is…difficult," she said after a while.

"What is?" Silence again met his question. Something was wrong, and the longer Cosmos stayed silent, the more concerned Tidus grew until he couldn't take it anymore. "These aren't normal dreams, are they? Just what's going on with me?"

"It is best for you, Tidus, to forget what you have experienced."

"How can you say that?"

"Tell me, Tidus: why do you fight?" Cosmos asked, still not looking at him.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It is imperative you answer me."

Tidus punched a fist into his open hand. "I'm here to beat Chaos and his army! Not to mention smack my old man around some after everything he's done."

"Is that the real reason?"

"Well, yeah. Why wouldn't it be? Heck, why would I lie about it?"

"Have you nothing you wish to protect—nothing you cherish enough to give your life for the sake of its survival?"

"When you put it that way…" Tidus trailed off and craned his head back to look up at the stars. He saw in the nighttime sky not just a starlit scene, but a memory—a memory of a warm, almost sad, smile of a special young woman. "I promised to be her Guardian—that I'd always be there for her."

"Then your memories of her are what drive you."

"Yeah," Tidus nodded. "If Chaos wins here, that means I failed my job and I'll never get to go home…"

Now Cosmos turned to look at him—dead in the eyes with her sorrowful gaze that paralyzed him on the spot. "The Warrior of Light has no such memories."

"Huh?"

"He knows nothing of his name, his home, or his loved ones. He has no recollection of the place he left or where he must return after this war ends."

"Are you serious?"

"All the Warrior knows is that he must protect the Order of this world. He is nothing without this mission."

"So he has amnesia?"

Cosmos shook her head. "His memories were sealed away in a place he can never reach."

"You're kidding!" Tidus cupped his fingers around his chest and furrowed his brows in thought. "You mean the Warrior of Light is like a zombie?"

"Yes."

"That's insane! How could you allow something like that to happen?"

"It is beyond my power to control..." The sadness weighing down the goddess' words pierced straight through Tidus' heart until he could feel her despair.

"But you're the Goddess of Harmony," he said softly. "There isn't anything you can do?"

Cosmos did not answer.

"So...you're saying his memories were sealed in a place he can't reach? What does that have to do with my dreams?"

"Your dreams are not of average origin, Tidus."

"I figured that was the case. So what are they?"

"Your power has allowed you full access to the area of subconscious housing the Warrior's Truth."

"Well there's something you don't hear everyday..." Tidus took a moment to digest the new information and that's when he conceived of a plan to help the Warrior. "Hey, that's it! What if I dive into his subconscious again and try to pull the real Warrior out of—huh? You don't like the idea?"

The goddess had once again turned her back to the athlete, concealing her pensive expression. "Even if you were to probe the Warrior's psyche, that does not guarantee resolution."

"Maybe not, but it's a start."

"You would again subject yourself to the Warrior's agony despite the low probability of success?"

"That guy hears screams of pain ringing in his ears that shiver me to the bone, but he can still carry on as our leader against the forces of Chaos. He's led us to numerous victory and chances are more than good that we'll win the war. The least I can do as both his comrade and friend is help him remember what it is he's fighting for, and it's worth a shot trying to use this new power of mine."

"Then you are committed to undertaking this task?

Tidus smirked. "Hey, I'm a star player! Once I've got the ball, all I can do is shoot a goal!"

"There is no dissuading you?"

"I'm starting to get the feeling you don't want me to do this. I don't understand, Cosmos; don't you want the Warrior to regain his memories?"

There was a long pause and then Cosmos disappeared from the field in a burst of light, leaving only her melancholy echo. "Do what you must, Tidus."

The star athlete stood befuddled, gawking at the empty space in front of him and wondered the reason for the goddess' obvious reluctance towards his plan.


End file.
